Intellifiber opens up Chicago to Washington D.C. low latency network route

Intellifiber Networks may have taken a careful approach to establishing its own low latency network offerings, but now the competitive carrier is about to open its second route for the financial community between Chicago and Washington D.C.

After establishing its initial low latency route between New York to Chicago, Intellifiber's latest route will also provide 2.5 and 10 Gbps Ethernet wavelength and Ethernet services. Each route can scale up to 100 Gbps as needed. Although it did not reveal names, Intellifiber said that a number of key financial firms and wholesale service provider customers have signed up for the service.

Since any network latency could translate into a loss sale for a financial institution, Intellifiber's low latency route services incorporate guaranteed installation intervals, 24X7 latency monitoring and string service level agreements (SLAs). To ensure low latency on the Chicago to Washington route, Intellifiber leveraged Ciena's dispersion compensation technology and engineered each route to avoid common congestion points.

And while Intellifiber's President Clint Heiden recognizes the ongoing low latency land grab that's emerged in recent years, he said what sets apart its low latency offering over other carriers is that it's designed along unique routes.  

"Between Chicago and New York and Washington DC and Chicago, the idea of a unique route that's diverse from other providers, never loses value," Heiden said in an interview with FierceTelecom. "In designing this route, there was a couple points-Philadelphia and Cleveland specifically-where we could have taken an easier path. Instead, we avoided some high congestion areas and kept our path 100 percent unique from the others including Level 3, AT&T, and Verizon. It cost us extra money and extra time, but we knew that was something the customer wanted."

For more:
- see the release here

Related articles:
Intellifiber establishes low-latency NY to Chicago network route
Q&A: Clint Heiden, President of Intellifiber
Intellifiber extends Ethernet reach through CENX